Munshi Premchand was a writer of Hindi and Urdu literature. In his early years, he ad to travel different places as his father had a transferable job. He completed his education in Gorakhpur, and started his career as a writer. He had a zeal for social reform and this personality. is reflected in his works. His achievement, through the role he played for the development of Hindi literature, is immeasurable. His works were translated into many foreign languages. Through his philosophy and outlook, he was known as a humble and modest person.

Career

Influence of Gandhi

Premchand had to take on family responsibilities at a young age and the greater part of his early life was taken up teaching at various schools. He taught for a few years at government schools and then was promoted to the post of assistant head examiner of the district school board. But his career as a teacher was to be short lived. In 1920, he happened to be in Gorakhpur, where a meeting was being addressed by Mahatma Gandhi. This was during the height of the Civil Disobedience Movement. Inspired by Gandhiji's call for freedom and the nationalist uprising, Premchand gave up his government job and returned to Benares. He was determined to work among the people and arouse their patriotic ideals and nationalist sentiment. The opportunity came when the editor of the journal Maryada (Honor) was jailed for his antigovernment writings and Premchand became the editor for a short while. Later, he took charge of another newspaper called Madhuri. For a while he also worked as the principal of the Kashi Vidyapeeth School.

Literary Works

From teaching and journalism, Premchand went on to devote himself wholly to creative writing and literature. He started writing in Urdu, as that was the language he had learnt in school. He even assumed a Urdu pseudonym Nawab Rai, under which name he brought out a collection of stories called Soje Vathan'in 1909. The then British Government banned this book, for its strong nationalist overtones and the copies were burnt before his eyes. After this, Premchand switched over to Hindi. This time, he adopted the name Premchand and this was the name that brought him literary fame and popularity. Premchand's language was simple and direct and the stories were woven around common everyday events. He drew inspiration from his own childhood experiences, when he had travelled through many small villages and towns, seen different people and studied their diverse cultures. Thus, all the characters in his writings are true to life ordinary people. Some of his greatest social literature include Pratigya (Promise); Seva Sadan (Nursing Home) Vardan, Prem Ashram, Rangbhoomi. Kayakalp, Nirmala, Gaban, Karma bhoomi, Godan and Mangalsutra. Of these, Mangalsutra remained incomplete, while Godan is considered to be his finest writing. His collected works include, Sapt Saroj, Nava Nidhi, Prem Pachisi , Prem Purnima, Prem- Dawadashi, Prem-thirtha, Prem-Piyush, Prem Kunj, Prem Chaturthi, Panch-Prasun, Sapt-Suman, Kafan, Mansarovar (eight volumes), Prem Pratima, Prem-Panchami etc. Premchand died on October 8, 1936.

Early Years

Premchand was born on July 31, 1880, in the village of Lamhi, about four miles from the city of Benares. His immediate forebears were village accountants in Lamhi. His father, Munshi Azaayab Lal, popularly known as 'Munshiji', was the village postmaster. Premchand lost his mother when he was only seven years old and his father married for a second time. He was brought up mostly by his elder sister, who was, to an extent able to compensate for his mother's absence. In his childhood, Premchand had to travel frequently to many towns, as his father had a transferable job. He did most of his schooling in Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh) where he picked up the habit of reading stories and novels. He became acquainted with a bookseller called Buddhi Lal, who allowed him to sit in his shop and read. Premchand was interested in language and learned Hindi, Urdu, Parsi and English. This interest remained with him for the rest of his life and influenced him greatly in his later career as a writer.

Education

After completing his early education in Gorakhpur, Premchand came back to Benares, as his father had to return to their village home. Here, he joined Queen's College and finished his High School in 1898. A year later, when he was only 19, he had to give up his studies and took an appointment as a teacher at a salary of only Rs 18! But he did not give up studies altogether, and passed his Intermediate and BA examinations much later from Prayag University (Allahabad).

Achievements

The role of Premchand in the development of Hindi literature is immeasurable. He is the pioneer of Hindi social literature, particularly short stories and novels. His stories reflect the socio-cultural environment of his time and the injustice that was meted out to the weaker sections of society, particularly women and low-castes. He was also a keen observer of human beings, a trait that was particularly useful in delineating his unforgettable characters. Premchand's writings have achieved immense popularity not only in India, where they have been translated into all the major regional languages, but also abroad and have been translated into English, Russian, Chinese and many other foreign languages.

Personality

Premchand was a social reformer at heart and he married a child widow, named Shivarani Devi, which was a revolutionary step in those days. This zeal for social reform was reflected in his writings too. He had been brought up in an era where reading fantastic, magical tales like Chandrakanta (a famous novel in those days) and detective stories was the norm, and no Hindi literature existed which dealt with serious social issues. Premchand was acutely aware of this lacuna, and strove to fill the gap by writing stories on social and human problems- about man's day to day existence and his follies and foibles.

Premchand’s early works in Urdu reveal a strong influence of Persian literature and he loved to write about romantic love tales with happy endings. But he also sought to promote patriotism and heroism by writing about famous Indian and foreign heroes. Premchand was also a man of great humility. If anyone asked him why he didn't write anything about himself, he would answer- "what greatness do I have to tell anyone about? I live just like millions of people in this country; I am ordinary. My life is also ordinary. I am a poor schoolteacher suffering family travails. During my whole lifetime, I have been grinding away with the hope that I could become free of my sufferings. But I have not been able to free myself from suffering. What is so special about this life that needs to be told to anybody?"